Brought to you by 501 South Studio - the interior Designers of Court Atkins Group.

Spring is the ideal time to add a touch of green and a pop of color to your décor in celebration of the season. Forget those stuffy and stiff traditional floral arrangements and loosen up a bit. You can still follow the basic rules of proportion and palette, but it is okay to lighten up on the formality and have some fun with it.

Here are a few of the guidelines we follow when we want to add a touch of the outdoors to our interior spaces.

Sometimes A Little Green is All You Need
You know the old adage, less is more? Well, simplicity and editing can be a designer’s best friend, and those principles apply to floral and greenery arrangements as well. Sometimes just a tiny vase of fresh-cut feathery greens, a single bloom floating in a bowl, or a lone palm frond in a glass vessel is all you need on a side table or nightstand.

Mix and Match
Go ahead and play with a high/low mix of expensive blooms and bargain fillers, just be mindful to keep it simple and elegant. Restricting your color palette and playing up the textures is a subtle way to add visual interest. A successful arrangement does not need to embrace every color in the rainbow-a little color is fine, but white is always right.

Create Sculpture with Branches
A freshly cut branch, whether bursting with blooms or loaded with leaves, can provide height and a wispy sculptural element to a sideboard or console table. Just remember to anchor tall or heavy boughs in a sturdy container with a narrow neck for stability. The playful shadows created by lighting a display of branches heightens the impact and doubles the drama.

Get Creative
Add an unexpected layer of interest by lining a vessel with leaves to create a truly living display. Not every vessel needs to be a flower vase-arrange blooms or greens in unexpected containers like a ceramic water jug. Flower vendors are obvious sources for fresh petals and foliage but also look for specials at your local grocer or explore your own garden for cuttings.

Now, go have some fun, and bring a little of this season’s natural beauty indoors to enjoy and freshen up your living spaces.

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Photo 1, Deborah Van Plew: Foliage 101: How to fill your home with fresh greenery.

Photo 2, Deborah Van Plew: Identify the scale of your foliage and how it will relate to your furniture pieces.

Photo 3, J. Savage Gibson Photography: Focus on the season and what is growing locally to display throughout your home.

Photo 4, Deborah Van Plew: Mixing leaves and flowers provides visual interest on coffee tables.

Photo 5, J. Savage Gibson Photography: Cut your greenery diagonally to give a lush and full appearance for round tables.

Photo 6, J. Savage Gibson Photography: Foliage adds a pop of color to those who favor neutral palettes.